If only
by MissMalfoy77
Summary: Written for EvangelineKL's Mirror of Erised Competition, my take on what Moaning Myrtle would've seen in the mirror all those years ago...  Enjoy!


**AN: Ok, so this was written for EvangelineKL's Mirror of Erised Challenge on the HPFC forum. I got Moaning Myrtle and although she was really annoying blah blah, she was also kind of a callous bitch ('scuse my language) because during Harry's entire second year, she was aware of where the chamber was, what the trio was doing etc. and she never bothered to alert any of the teachers. anyway, this is my take on what she would've seen in the Mirror. Enjoy!**

As soon as the seventh-year girls left the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle burst into tears. 52 years, it had been, since she was found dead in the very same bathroom and for 52 years she had been terrorising any student who came into it, the exception being Harry Potter. Those girls had been at it again, discussing the Yule Ball as if Myrtle wasn't even there. Dress-shopping, dates, dancing, everything Myrtle had yearned for and those girls were callously getting excited about it, not caring that Moaning Myrtle couldn't go.

"GET OUT!" she had screeched and took pleasure as their faces became scared, before they bolted out. She looked around the now-empty bathroom. Maybe this place was just getting to her. She had hardly left it in all the 52 years she'd been haunting it, maybe she needed a change of scenery.

Swooping out of the bathroom, she glided through the corridors, through the Great Hall and found herself facing the wall on the seventh floor. The Room of Requirement.

_I need change_

_I need change_

_I need change_

Suddenly in front of her, a door started materialising within the wall and after a few moments, she glided through it. Blankly staring around, it looked exactly the same as it always had. Cluttered with all sorts of objects…still, it _was_ different from the bathroom, she supposed.

_Maybe I should just haunt the Room of Requirement_.

Drifting through the room, a particular object caught her eye. In the corner of the room stood something she hadn't seen for a long, long time. The mirror. To be more precise, the Mirror of Erised. What was it doing here? Hadn't it been destroyed by Professor Dumbledore three years ago? She floated towards it when she realised, being an enchanted mirror, it would not show her reflection. But Myrtle didn't care. More than 50 years would not have changed what she saw in the mirror when she was a student…

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><p>"Ooh Myrtle? You know the New Year's Eve Ball is coming up soon, I suggest you get a date before all the good ones…, oh wait, you need to be attractive if you want to get a date. My mistake!" came the shrill voice of Olive Hornby, as she burst out in laughter. Myrtle Lockwood stood her ground, her cheeks burning and tears threatening to flow from her eyes. Before she did something she would regret, Myrtle turned around and sprinted from the Great Hall and into the nearest classroom. At least it was empty.<p>

Drying her eyes, she suddenly became aware of a mirror in front of her. It had an inscription: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_. Whatever that meant. She stood in front of it and an image appeared on the glass. Myrtle had to look closer to make sure that it was really her. Reflection-Myrtle had clearer skin, bright shining hair, no glasses and perfectly straight teeth. But it wasn't the physical appearance that Myrtle was gawking over. It was the figure standing next to her and the other figure behind her. She turned around to see if anyone was next to her but all there was, was empty space.

It was no secret that Myrtle was a plain, unattractive girl. Olive Hornby made sure everyone knew everyday. But what would probably come to a surprise for many, was the secret desire Myrtle Lockwood harboured. Myrtle was in love. And not with a fellow unattractive boy, but with _him_. Tom Riddle. He was gorgeous and Myrtle swooned, just thinking of him. Perfect grades, dark shining hair and clear grey eyes that bored deep down into your soul…and he was standing next to her in the mirror. Besotted with her. And the figure behind her was scowling. Peering closer, it was Olive Hornby…a much uglier Olive Hornby. Her hair was matted and greasy, she had blotchy skin and unsightly acne. And she was looking very much excluded.

When Myrtle Lockwood, aged 14, looked into that mirror, she saw herself being the alpha female for once. _She _was the pretty one who got Tom Riddle to herself and everyone knew it. Myrtle backed away from the mirror, in disbelief, and ran from the classroom, unable to process what she'd just seen…

* * *

><p>Moaning Myrtle's heart sank, knowing tears couldn't flow from her ghostly face. She remembered the day when she ran into the bathroom to escape from Olive Hornby, how she heard footsteps and a strange language being uttered, she remembered stepping out of the cubicle to see Tom Riddle commanding a huge snake at her and the last moments of her life were spent staring into its eyes…<p>

But she had never stopped loving him. Sure he was completely unaware of her infatuation with him, but after her death, she realised she spent all her time thinking about him, probably why she never left the bathroom, the last place she had seen him.

And little Ginny Weasley, pouring out her heart to Myrtle about her obsession with a mysterious Tom Riddle. Myrtle had just smiled to herself, not bothering to detract Ginny from her dangerous mission because she knew it would probably be the only chance she would get to see her Tom Riddle again.

She knew she was sometimes vain and moody with people who came into the bathroom, but seeing them with their boyfriends and their pretty dresses, being escorted to the Ball...why couldn't she have had those luxuries?

If only he had noticed her, all those years ago…

**AN: Hope you enjoyed that, please leave a review and tell me what you think!**


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